The Conversation: Greater Expectations

With Geneva Watch Week behind us, the editors exchange views on the novelty showcases, the novelties themselves and all the watch news that is fit to print and some that is not)

- ASHOK SOMAN, DANIEL GOH AND RUCKDEE CHOTJINDA

The new year in watchmaking is well underway, and all the editors of WOW met in Switzerland for the launch of the novelties at Watches and Wonders Geneva. This happened to be the first time in many years that teams from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand all converged at one watch fair. Grand plans were hatched ahead of the event to make the best of our combined presence. Unfortunately, illness and misfortune made it so that all parties were just thankful to get to the finish line unscathed. As for the watches themselves, the very thing that you are reading this magazine for, you have no doubt seen and heard a lot already. Luckily, we managed to try many of the most significant watches out ourselves.

In this special instalment of The Conversation, the editors get to grips not with a topical issue but with the happenings at the world's most important watch fair. Watches and Wonders Geneva is a watchmaking mecca drawing all the important players together. In such an environment, there is an opportunity to learn from each other, which is especially important when there are too many brands (to say nothing of the watches) to examine personally. And thus, the editors of WOW used The Conversation to distil all the news from the fair, and also throw in the various happenings during what is known as Geneva Watch Week 2024.

The resulting brew is a little heady so be forewarned! Before we let the discussion kick off, there are a few key points to bear in mind, if you are coming into this story fresh. Arguably, the most important of these is that Watches and Wonders Geneva is by far the biggest and most important public-facing gathering of watchmaking brands anywhere in the world. It is not, however, the only game in town because plenty of brands are taking advantage of the more than 49,000 guests attending the main event.